A national search for administrators to fill positions at the Los Angeles Center is underway, as President M. Lee Pelton formed two committees to find a senior executive director and dean and a vice president of academic affairs.

In an email to Emerson faculty and students, Pelton said each group contains Emerson faculty, staff, a student, and search consultants. The consultant firm’s job is to bring in candidates.

“We’re seeking [people] who can provide academic leadership and whose experience, knowledge, [and] administrative acumen has the best chance of engendering the trust and confidence of the faculty,” Pelton said in an interview.

The search for a vice president of academic affairs at the Los Angeles Center should be completed by April. Pelton said the other committee looking for a senior executive director and dean hopes to finish by March.

Pelton is the chair of both committees.

Dennis Conners, a sophomore performing arts major, will serve on the senior executive director and dean search group, and Madison Scolnick, a senior marketing communication major, will serve on the vice president of academic affairs search group.

For the vice president of academic affairs position, Pelton said that Emerson is looking for someone who has university-level administrative and teaching experience, produced recognized research, and is a leader in his or her discipline.

“It’s a person who provides academic leadership for a college or university and oversees administrative functions that are central to the academy [such as] promotion and tenure, the library, academic advising, faculty development, midterm programs, [and] the offices that write grants,” Pelton said.

Pelton said a candidate for the senior executive director and dean position will have a good knowledge of the arts, communication, media and entertainment fields in the LA area, and have experience working in the arts and media industry.

Both committees have met once so far, according to Pelton, and each has discussed the process of selecting candidates and creating a job description for each of the positions.

According to the statement from Pelton, Jim Lane, the current executive director of the LA program, will join the final candidates chosen to fill the roles in creating the Los Angeles Center’s leadership team.